Push Me Away
by Akylina11
Summary: Kotaro was boarder lined PTSD after losing his first girlfriend Suzuki. But the traumatic events of Akane dying pushed him to the limits of his own sanity. (Complete)
1. Chapter 001- Buried In My Heart

There are many stories that go through the history of time that tells people that the Ninja Princess saved the country from Lord Oda and his wrath. There are stories of her falling in love with a ninja who was served to protect her. And the story goes that after the war, the two got married and lived the rest of their lives together. But we all know- that is not what really happened.

I, Kotaro Fuuma, only son of the Fuuma clan, know the truth.

I was there.

It was after I promised Princess Akane that I wouldn't throw my life away. That I was gonna protect her because I wanted to; not because I had to. She just broke through my hard shell and she made me able to love again. I felt this feeling again after five years of locking it away. My heart dry of happiness and eyes were deserts. All feeling was gone; until I met the Princess. I wasn't afraid of death, I welcomed it till Akane made me realize that I was more to this world then just a pile of shit.

That day, when Oriku kidnapped the Princess, I can't explain what happened. It was too sudden. Oriku must have saw right through me when I shot her. Taking that chance to grab the Princess by the kimono and pull her over the cliff, she knew I would go after her. She took that chance to stop me from saving her. I wasn't the one that fell over the cliff that night; it was our only symbol of the Ninjas.

After that night, I couldn't handle myself anymore. Mentally or physically. I wanted to save her, even though I knew she was already dead. The only person in the world who broke through my shell was killed in action. I blame myself for that. I call myself the murderer. Anger was built up in me from that point on that I nearly killed myself when I walked through the front doors of Oda's mansion and assassinated him on the spot. The war has ended, but not my wrath.

I grew violent. I shouted more then I would speak, I barely ever ate or slept, I didn't do anything normal for once. It has been three months already and I still haven't gotten any better. Saizo, Sasuke, Goemon, Hanzo, and Kuma have been coming in once in awhile to check up on me; which I don't need. Hanzo also asked Renn to check me out and see why I was acting this way, and from what I have heard; I have a sever case of PTSD. And can take months to finally cure or even treat it. But Renn didn't even bother to even try to help me because he knew I would reject his help.

"Kotaro, Renn is just trying to help you." They would say.

"Yeah, well I don't need it!" I would reply with a sound of me punching the wall following my shout.

I sat in the middle of my room on the futon and sat with my elbows on my knees and a blank expression on my face. I could only stare into the empty wall that was in front of me and remember every little detail of that night. It was those quick few seconds of watching her fall to her death as I just stood with the shuriken in my gut.

I still had the bandage wrapped around my stomach area and it was painful to move. My wound somehow grew infected from not being treated properly and me neglecting to even look down at the reminder of my failure.

The sliding door to my room opened and closed. I didn't move a single muscle as the ninja walked towards me silently. They then sat down on my left and placed a canteen in front of me with a mild thud.

"You're not gonna survive in this room with oxygen alone." Saizo comments bluntly at me as the silence stood between us. "What happened to Kotaro? Whatever happened to the most loyal ninja in all of Japan?!" Saizo shout at me with a slap of his hand hitting the ground in front of him.

We continued to keep the silence between us until I finally picked up the canteen and drank the spring water from it. I gently place it in the same spot that Saizo had it in and continued my stare into the wall without saying one word to the ninja next to me.

"We all wish for the same, Kotaro." I finally look up at him as he stood up to his feet and begin to walk away. "No matter how much it hurts, maybe you should just bury it down into your heart again." I hear his footsteps silently walk away from the door and down the hallway before I tighten my jaw and punch the ground under me.

 _I don't have the heart to bury it in anyways._


	2. Chapter 002- His Isolation

" _Normal people should not get involved with ninjas. I am a ninja, and you are..."_

" _I don't care about ninjas and normal people! I care about you!"_

"Ah!" I quickly sat up from the futon and looked around my room. The space was empty, yet Akane's words spoke to me as though she was right in front of me.

I couldn't get any sleep. I didn't get any sleep. From these nightmares, dreams, flashbacks. They all invaded my mind. Of Shizuka and of Akane. If I didn't dream of one, I dream of the other.

I lay back down onto the futon and rest my head on the pillow but I had no feeling of going back to sleep. By the sounds of the crickets, it was still very early in the morning. Making me only sleep for three hours. I stared up at the ceiling before my hearing caught the front door open and close in the distance. And making their way towards my room were two sets of footsteps; a quiet, stealth walk and a loud, small strided pace. And before long, my bedroom door slid open and walks through was Goemon. Walking up next to me, he sat down on the ground near me and rested an arm on his knee. He looked down at me for a moment before speaking.

"I can tell you actually slept for once." He says with a sarcastic tone.

"What do you want this early, Goemon?" I ask irritably.

"I was out drinking last night when I ran into someone who seemed like an interesting person." He pauses for a moment. "I met her at the bar and offered to buy her the next round, only to find out that she doesn't drink. Catching my eye were the bruises all over her. Being curious me; I asked. Found out that she was a sex slave to a headman of a small village just north of Nagasaki. She had the strength to leave that place last night and make it all the way down here." I continued to look up at him blankly as he spoke of this woman.

"What relevance does this have to do with?"

"She needed a place to stay and a job to support herself with." I groan mentally as I found out where this was going. But I didn't say a word as I glared at Goemon.

Goemon looks up to the door and whistles toward it. And appearing behind the sliding door was a girl. She looked not too young from my age. Her hair was braided to one side and was the color of winter bark. Her eyes gleamed in the low light of the lamp in my room and showed the color of emeralds. Her skin was pale as a full moon as the bruises around her neck seemed to want to hide themselves in the shadows. She walks up near me and bows respectfully to me, even though I didn't move from my spot on the futon.

"I told her I might be able to hook her up with you. You do have the extra room down the hall that she can sleep in. And you do need some help around here." Goemon nods towards the hole that was made in the wall.

"No thank you." I simply said.

"Hey, I think this would be better than any other idea that we had. You will have someone to talk to when you need it. And you won't just listen to the crickets outside during the night anymore." Goemon spoke to me with a slight grin but my focus left him when in the corner of my eye, I saw the girl's hand reach towards my bandages slowly, but I quickly sat up again and roughly grab her by the wrist.

I look back at her with narrowed eyes as a warning to not get close to me as she begins to tremble. I could even feel it in her wrist how bad she was beginning to shake. She looks up at me in surprise for a moment before she pulls her wrist free from my hand and runs out of the room after muttering a quiet "I'm sorry".

"When are you gonna grow up?" Goemon says as he stood up.

I only glared back as he walks to the door and shuts it behind him. I strain my hearing to listen to what he was saying to that girl.

"The guest room is just down the hall. The last door on the left. And don't be afraid of Kotaro. He is a nice guy, he just needs to get used to you. But that's gonna be hard in his situation right now."

"I understand."

"So make yourself at home. And if you want, get some rest. You might just be able to make Kotaro eat tomorrow." Goemon's footsteps walk down the hall and out the front door before I lost his presence. But the girl was still in front of my sliding door, not making a move.

When she did, she walked down the hallway and open the guest room door. She disappeared into the far off room and shuffled the noise she made in the halls.

Laying back down onto my futon and pillow, I stared up at the ceiling once again and thought to myself,

 _Goemon, what are you thinking?_


	3. Chapter 003- Silent Melody

The sun was finally over the horizon. It was a bright morning, especially for a dull winter. I sat on the futon with a kunai knife being flipped between my fingers. And with it being completely sharpened just a few hours ago, it cut my fingers, making both my hand and the blade bloody. But that didn't make me want to stop.

"Kotaro?" The girl's voice finally spoke up this morning. But I didn't answer her as I continued to slice my fingers in silence.

Slowly opening the door, she walk into my room and noticed the blood all over my hand. From her expression, I could tell that she tried hard to hold back and not get near me to try to stop me.

"When you do it long enough, it stops hurting." I tell her blankly.

Nodding to my words, she looks to the ground and spoke again. "When was the last time you ate anything?" I didn't reply after as I just sat with the knife twiddling between my fingers.

The girl left the room and made her way down the hall towards the kitchen. She then came back a few minutes later with a bowl in her hand and a cup of steaming green tea in the other. Setting them down near me on the ground, she looks at me for another moment before bowing and walking out of the room. But before she completely closed the door, she runs in and takes the kunai knife from my hand and drops it a ways away from me. Running out of the room, she closes the door and I could hear her sigh out in the hallway as she leans against the wall. Making her way down the hall, I can hear her begin to wash the dishes in the kitchen and a quiet hum being sung.

I looked down at the food she brought me. In the bowl was some warm miso soup and in the green tea, there was some full Lemon Balm leaves with a few crushed lavender plants. Picking up the cup of tea, I inhaled some of the steam and smelt the mix of flavors together. Taking a sip, a warm feeling went down my throat and into me as I felt a strange sensation of calmness surface in me. I shook my head and set down the cup of tea. I couldn't eat because of my extreme loss of appetite and the tea didn't make me feel any better.

 _~Push Me Away~_

It was late in the afternoon as I watched the sun begin to set over the horizon. It was a quiet day, besides for a few sounds and songs that the girl made throughout the day. She hasn't bothered me since this morning. I would have thought that she would be coming in and out of my room and asking questions obnoxiously. But she didn't disturb me once.

Maybe Goemon was right. Maybe I did need someone else to be here at the house. Or even around me. I didn't feel as lonely as I did when it was just me. I did enjoy listening to some of the girls singing. Most of it was humming though.

The girl doesn't seem to talk much. I watched her feed some of the birds outside with some crumbs and seeds and even then she didn't seem to speak much. She said a few words but that was it. She reminds me of me a few month back. After Shizukas death. I barely spoke. I spoke in my mind more than I did with my tongue. But then again; I was always a man of few words. Even when I was a child.

The girl feeds the last of the seeds to the birds before she walks back inside. I hear here footsteps make their way towards my room before I heard a soft knock on my bedroom door. Walking into my room cautiously, the girl looks up at me as I sat on the window sill and looked out into the blankness of our surroundings. None of us said a word as she walks up to my still full bowl of miso soup and half cup of tea left untouched on the ground. Her shoulders drooped as she picks the bowls up and begins to walk out of the room.

"I have to admit," I quickly call out before she left the room. "The tea was pretty good."

I saw the girl smile slightly and blush as she walks out of the room. Closing the door, I hear her walk back to the front of the house and stand a ways from the door. Using one hand to cup around her mouth, she makes something like a bugle call for the deer. And before long; a doe and her fawn appear from the distance. The two cautiously walk up to the girl as she sat on the snowy ground and held the bowl out in front of her. Making their way up to her, the doe sniffs the miso soup before taking a drink from it. When the fawn saw his mother drinking the soup, he shoves his nose into the bowl and began to drink it up. The girl laughs to herself as she saw the fawn wrestling to get more of the soup.

The doe and fawn finished the soup after a few minutes. The girl gives the fawn a little rub on the cheek before she puts a hand in her jacket pocket and pulls out some sweet candies. Giving some to the fawn and doe, they walk away in delight. The girl walks back inside and I could hear her begin to hum again. Leaning my head back onto the window sill, I relax against the wall and felt myself begin to feel drowsy from lack of sleep. And before I knew it, I had fallen into deep sleep with the sweet melody replaying in the darkness.


	4. Chapter 004- Drowned In The Past

" _You stupid idiot!"_

" _What are you doing?!"_

" _Stop playing it cool! You ran all the way here didn't you?! I've never seen someone keep up with a dog like that! You wanted to save Akane that badly, didn't you! So stop acting cool! Kotaro, listen up. If you want something, you have to take it."_

"Kotaro,"

"Ugh!" I instinctively raise my hand up to the person's neck when I woke up. But before my vision even cleared, I felt the girl's presence and her fear circling around her.

I look down at her with my hand still on her neck and held a blank stare. Her emotions were written all over her face and her scent as she stood motionless in front of me. I then looked down at where my hand was placed and see that it was the exact position from where her bruise was on her neck. Slowly, I move my hand away from her neck and finally moved from the window sill.

It looked to be late at night as I saw the moon risen high in the sky. I must have slept longer than I have since Akane died. Sleeping has been hard for me because of the dreams I continued to have. These dreams seem like a happy ending but they are all mistakes I have made. Goemon helped me realize that I shouldn't hold back anymore. And without his stupidity, I wouldn't have came out to Akane.

"I'm sorry."

The girl quietly mumbles to me as she walks up to me with a damp cloth. Kneeling down in front of me, she took my hand that was covered in dried blood and began to wipe the blood off as gently as she could. Her hands were small compared to mine, and her touch seemed invisible. I'm guessing she doesn't have much of anything. Voice, feeling, emotion. She seems to be transparent.

Wiping off all the blood off my fingers and hand, she pulls out some ointment from her pocket and lightly dabs on the medicine onto all the cuts on my fingers before pulling out a roll of bandages from the same pocket. She covers all my fingers on my right hand, plus my hand, before nodding to herself in silence and gently placing my hand down into my lap. Standing up from in front of me, she picks up a tray from the top of my dresser and places it down next to me. I thought that she was gonna leave me alone, but she surprisingly sat in front of me again with legs crossed and hands in lap. I raise an eyebrow in confusion as she picks up the plate full of fried tofu and a pair of chopsticks and held it up to me.

"What?" I ask her after we just sat like this for a few moments. But she doesn't respond as she just shrugged her shoulders and held a cube of tofu with her chopsticks.

She held up the piece of tofu and opened her mouth up wide. Then bringing the tofu to her mouth, she exaggerates herself eating the piece of tofu. I couldn't help but tilt my head to the side as I saw her act this way. The girl picks up another cube from the plate and held it up to my lips. I sat motionless for a few moments before I just barely parted my lips and when I did, the girl takes the cube and eats it. My eyes widened as she just shrugs.

 _So that's how she wants to play it._

When she picked up another cube from the plate, I took a gentle grip of her hand and held it still for me to be able to take the piece of tofu and eat it. And the face on the girl lit up as though she was at the Otaru Snow Light Path matsuri. And for the first time, I got to see her smile widen from ear to ear. And I had to admit, her smile is very beautiful.

"You smile." I tell her.

"You do too." She replies with a point of her finger. And I didn't realize, but I was smiling a bit. This was the first time in three months that I have actually smiled.

The girl picks up another cube of tofu from the plate and brings it up to my lips again, making me roll my eyes and eat it. And as I ate the tofu, she also took a cube and ate it. She continued to back and forth feed me in silence for a while but before long, we ate the whole plate of tofu together. She looks down at the empty plate and hops around in her seat as she finally made me able to eat. I think the last time I ate was two weeks ago when Saizo and Sasuke shoved food down my throat. So I technically didn't eat it.

She places the plate down on the tray and gives me the cup of green tea with the same herbs in it as the last one I tried. I held it in my left hand and looked down at it as the girl picked up the tray and place it on the dresser again. I continued to look up at her when I went to take a sip of the tea. But as I did, my mind went back into the past.

" _AHHHH!"_

" _Princess!"_

A flashback of when we were in the river got to me and I felt all of the warm tea go down my throat, making me feel like I was drowning. I began to cough violently as I leaned over and held my neck. The girl quickly runs up to me and begins to pat my back. I suddenly grew irritable and I roughly grabbed her arm, pushing her to the ground as she shook in fear.

"Get the hell out!" Getting loose from my grip, the girl ran out of my room and down the hall into her room with tears streaming down her face.

I gritted my teeth as I sat up on my knees. Looking down at the cup on the floor, I grabbed it and threw it roughly against the wall, making it shatter into many pieces. Standing up, I paced around the room with anxiety overflowing in me and my body began to feel weak. Leaning against the wall for support, I punched the wall and screamed out.

"Fucking damnit!"

Turning my back to the wall, I lean against it for support as I slide down to the ground with my hands on my head.

 _Akane… I can't live without you._


	5. Chapter 005- Drink Me Dead

I didn't move from my spot as I watched the darkness of my room brighten from the morning sun. It has been silent all night and all morning, I began to wonder where the girl went to. Maybe I should have asked her what her name was, because I seem to always call her 'girl' and I think she takes it personally.

"Hoo...hoo..." Looking up from the ground and up to the window, I saw a familiar silhouette of an owl on the base of the window and watched it look around the room. Then flying to me, the owl lands onto my knee and looks up at me with a tilted head.

"Hey Hosuke." I quietly greet my owl with a rub on the neck.

"Hoo...hoo…"

"I was wondering where you were. You haven't been here since that girl came around." Hosuke looks back at the window and I follow his sight.

Standing up from the ground, I walk over to the window and look outside to see the girl sitting down in the snow with a stray cat in her lap. She quietly hummed to herself as she stroked the cat's back. Then her hushed voice began to sing out lyrics as though she has sang them her whole life.

 _With the solitude and despair strangling me,_

 _My heart almost breaks apart._

 _But your smile in my memory_

 _Always encourages me._

 _Let's go back to that time once again._

 _I know it'll be alright this time._

 _I will always be smiling by your side,_

 _Right by your side._

 _Where are you? What are you doing at this very moment?_

 _Are you somewhere beyond this sky?_

 _Will you keep your smile like always?_

 _That is now all I wish for._

Listening to the lyrics made a tender feeling flow through me when the song reminded me of someone.

"You must be cold." I hear her say to the grey kitten. "Let's get you warm inside." Picking up the kitten and holding him gently against her chest, she stood up and walks into the house and for the first time since last night, I heard sounds in the house.

How did she get outside if I didn't hear her walking through the house? Unless she got out from her window?

"Hoo...hoo…" Hosuke flies around the room before landing onto my dresser; where the empty plate of tofu stood since last night.

"Yeah, I ate for the first time in a long time." Walking to my futon, I sat down with my chin rested on one knee and stared up at the blank wall.

After a few quiet minutes, a soft knock was heard on my door and the girl's voice came through. "Kotaro?"

She doesn't wait for me to reply; already knowing that I won't, and opens the sliding door. Walking into my room, she walks up to me with a tray. And on the tray was a bottle of sake with two cups to drink them from. I look at her in confusion before she sits awfully close to me. The girl pours some sake in a cup and held it out for me to drink, but I didn't take it and looked at her with a mixture of confusion and seriousness.

Sighing to herself, the girl reluctantly drinks the sake. I stared at her for a moment before she leans in and locks her lips onto mine. My eyes widen in surprise as she kissed me deeply. It was so unexpected that I didn't know how to comprehend on what was going on. But then it hit me that she was trying to poison me when I felt the sake do down my throat. Pushing her off of me, I suddenly felt drowsiness take over and my vision beginning to blur.

"What did you do to me?" I ask before I felt myself lose consciousness and fade into the darkness.


	6. Chapter 006- She's Not Akane!

I felt heavy as my consciousness began to fade in. Everything seemed normal till something rough began to rub against my nose. Opening my eyes, I look and see in my face was that grey kitten the girl brought in earlier. It was meowing and licking me as though it wanted to play.

Looking up from the kitten, I began to sit up but the pain in my gut begins to hurt. I pull over the blanket that was over me and look down to see that my bandages were replaced. They weren't blood soaked anymore and it felt like there was ointment around the wound. After inspecting the bandages, I noticed that I was wearing different, clean clothes and I didn't smell odorous. I smelt fresh and clean. I felt my hair and I could feel that it was still slightly damped as though it was washed. I then begin to look around the room. Nothing has changed besides for the part that it was cleaned and some of the holes in the walls were patched up.

"Meow…" The kitten meows again and rubs its head on my arm, needing attention. But I didn't do so as I attempted to stand up.

I check out the window and see that it seemed to be late afternoon, making it that I slept for several hours. Walking out of my room in a limp, I walk down the hallway towards the guest bedroom. I knock on the door a few times and waited a few moments before siding the girl's door open. Looking around the room, I find it empty besides for her bag on the side of the room and the futon on the ground. Walking down the hall again, I made my way towards the kitchen and living room and also find those places empty.

 _Where did she go?_

"Hoo…hoo…" Hosuke flew next to the front door as though he was trying to go out.

Opening the door, Hosuke flies out and down a backwoods path that lead to a small riverbed. I began to walk with my limp in silence with Hosuke flying around me as a guide. After a few minutes, I finally saw the figure of the girl sitting on the ground with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. When I got near her, I called out,

"Hey, girl." She looks back in surprise before quickly standing from the ground and walking up to me. She took off the blanket from around herself before wrapping it around me. I immediately took the blanket off of myself and wrap it around the girl's shoulders. "You need this more than me." I tell her quietly. But she only looks down to the ground as though I was punishing her.

"There is some dinner in the house." She quietly states after a minute of silence between us. Walking past me, she continues to look down at the ground in shame.

I didn't understand why she was acting this way and before I knew my own movements, I grabbed her firmly on the shoulder and pull her into an embrace. I felt my cheeks flush pink as I continue to hug the girl in the cold. And now that she was near me, I am finally able to notice how small she was. From what I remembered; Goemon said she was a sex slave. Used just for pleasure purposes. Must be hard to just be around me when in a room alone.

"Kotaro, you shouldn't be out of bed." She states to me in a low voice.

"I came looking for you." I confess as I held the girl firmly against me.

"Why?" I look down and see the girl looking up at me with a blank expression on her face.

I don't know what came to me, but instead of answering her question; I leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. Her lips were warm and soft as they were against my rough, cracked lips. It felt like I was kissing Akane again. But as I got too into it, the girl roughly pushes me back, making me lose my balance and fall on my ass. She then threw the blanket at me before running up through the path and towards the house. I sighed to myself as I watched her disappear into the snowy forestry. Why would I do such a stupid stunt like that?

Picking up the blanket and getting up from the snow, I slowly begin to walk towards the house as I kept kicking myself mentally. She went through shit and I was bringing her back to that experience. And it wasn't just her, it was also me. My feelings think that this girl is Akane, and it makes me want to do things to her that I wouldn't just do to some girl I met. Such as when I kissed her; I felt like I was kissing Akane, making me go too far and scare the girl.

Making my way into the house, I look around and see a bowl of miso soup on the table with a note written "Please Eat" on it. Looking around again, I didn't see the girl around until I heard sobs coming from down the hall. I strain my hearing and listen to her cry for a moment before I decided to just drink the miso soup. Chugged it down within a minute before placing it back on top of the table and walk back to my room. Before shutting the door, the girl's voice made me stop and sick to the stomach.

"Why are they all the same?"


	7. Chapter 007- Telling Me Her Name

I sat in my room in complete silence as nightfall came in. I couldn't stop thinking of the girl's words that she said. They kept repeating in my head as did the kiss. The kiss was an accident, I didn't mean to kiss her!

"Hey Kotaro." I was snapped out of my train of thought when I heard a familiar voice call out from above me.

"Hey."

"Have you been sleeping?"

"Yes."

"Then why do you look like shit?"

I look up at Goemon before getting off topic.

"What's the girl's name?" He looks down in surprise as I ask him.

"She didn't tell you her name?"

"And you brought her here without knowing it?!" I stood up from my seat to get to Goemon's height, but the pain in my gut made me wince in pain but I ignored it as much as I could.

"Hey! It's not like she would even straight up tell me! I thought that she would tell you!" Goemon shouts back at me.

"What if she was an assassin?! Then what? How are you able to trust this woman more than anyone else? What did your intentions tell you?" I continued to yell at him as he just stood with sharp eyes and a frown. It then grew completely silent between the two of us before he spoke again.

"My gut feelings are never wrong." He begins to walk away from me as I felt myself begin to shake in anger.

When I heard my bedroom door slide closed, I punched the wall behind me and screamed out in frustration. What the hell was Goemon thinking?! For all we would know is that she might be an assassin!

"Kotaro!" I didn't look up as the girl ran into the room and takes a hold of my bandaged hand. She seemed to inspect it to see if I did any damage to it before sighing to herself. She looks back to the wall and quietly mutters, "And I just fixed it."

I look back at the wall and see that I have made another hole just a foot away from a previous damage I have made a few days back. I frowned as I jerked my hand from the girl's soft grip and walked out of the room. Yet I stomped my way down the hall, my footsteps seemed to be silent compared to the girl's as she ran to me from behind. Goemon stood next to the door with a serious expression on his face; but I don't bother with him as I walked out of the house and into the snowy evening.

"Kotaro!" The girl's calls out my name and as I turned around to look at her, she slips in the snow and falls to the ground while taking me with her as she grabbed a hold of my kimono.

I winced in pain from my gut before I noticed that I was hovering above the girl. I look down at her in silence as she stares up at me with her eyes beginning to tear on the corners. I went to get off of her but was pulled back down when she wrapped her arms around my neck. It caught me off guard, I didn't know what was going on!

"This is all my fault." I heard her whisper in my ear.

"Hey, it's not your fault." I look down at her as she releases me and I shook my head. "You've actually… helped me."

The girl could only smile as I looked away with red cheeks.

"My name is Wakana." She says quietly, making me turn my attention back to her.

"Wakana…" I repeat her name as though to remember it. "It's a beautiful name."

"Thank you." It was her turn to blush red and advert her eyes away from her.

"Hey! You two should get inside before you catch a cold!" I look up and see Goemon looking down at us as he stood against the doorframe with a smirk and crossed arms.

"And you should eat." I look down at Wakana before getting off of her. Helping her up from the snow, we walk side-by-side up to the house in silence.

For the first time in several months, I felt much of the anxiety and depression leave my body; just by finding out Wakana's name.


	8. Chapter 008- I Can Tell Her Anything

"Goemon, how did you meet Wakana again?" I asked him as we were in the middle of eating dinner.

"Well, I just saw her at the bar and thought I could get a night out of her. After talking to her for a little, she began to interest me more and more till I thought of you. It seemed like you two would get along." Wakana and I look at each other for a moment before the two of us look away with warm cheeks. "And my intentions were right again." Goemon finishes with a smirk.

"You kinda scared me when we were coming here." She tells him quietly.

"I'm not that scary." Goemon replies with a smirk, but Wakana doesn't say anything back as she looks down at her half eaten ramen she made for all of us.

I sighed to myself before I take some of the noodles and slurp them up.

"At least she got you to eat again." I look up at him with a blank expression as I swallowed the food.

"Yeah, I guess I got my appetite back."

"And how long do you sleep now?" I pondered on the times I have actually slept and just shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't exactly know. But I think I now sleep for a good two to three hours."

"Better than nothing." Goemon says.

"Except that one time," I look down at Wakana and narrow my eyes at her. "What did you put in the sake to make me sleep?"

She looks away from me and quietly mutters, "Wintergreen. Their berries cause drowsiness. I wanted to let you have some sleep for once because you seemed exhausted."

"But, my hair was also wet and I was wearing different clothes…" I felt myself begin to redden as I felt somehow violated.

"No way…. The girl who wouldn't get near any man undressed and washed Kotaro while he was knocked out!" Goemon looks from Wakana and I with a stupid grin on his face.

"He did have some blood stains in a few places. And his wound was infected." Wakana says innocently, as though it was normal to do that.

"But it's KOTARO. He NEVER let anyone touch him besides his girl…" Goemon stops mid-sentence when he realized what he was about to say. "Nevermind."

"Huh?" Wakana looks back at me in confusion.

"Just forget about it." I tell her bluntly before I finished the rest of the ramen and made my way to my room.

Walking into my room, I notice that Hosuke and the little kitten haven't moved from my futon since they fell asleep earlier in the night. I didn't make a single noise as I walk over to the futon and sat down next to the little animals. Hosuke laid on his back with his wings around the kitten as it laid on Hosukes belly. I couldn't help but smile at the two as they slept together. The kitten purred lightly as it slept while Hosuke let out a hoo here and there.

"Kotaro?" My thoughts were interrupted as I heard Wakana's voice through the paper doors. Opening the door quietly, she walks in without making a sound and sits down next to me. She also smiles as she sees the two creatures sleeping with each other. "That's so cute."

"Yeah. Guess they became friends quickly."

"Goemon told me to tell you that he would inform Master Hanzo on your current condition. He left after you came in here." I nod my head in response.

"But I doubt that I'm ready to go back into combat."

"What did you do?" She asks.

"Oh yeah. I'm guessing that Goemon never told you that we are ninjas." She shook her head. "I'm the only son of the headman of the Fuuma Clan. We are raised to be ninjas from childhood. I was always picked on by other kids because I looked funny and barely ever spoke."

"You don't look funny." Wakana says with a little giggle. Making the corner of my lip curl up slightly.

"Yeah, well I just learned to take it." I look down at the kitten and the owl as they slept peacefully. "I should have known that I would sooner or later be diagnosed with it."

"Diagnosed with what?"

"PTSD; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

"PTSD? Isn't that when you witness a traumatic event and you become mentally, emotionally, and physically unstable?"

"Basically." I answer quietly.

"What happened to you?"

"I had a job. I was chosen by the Ninja Princess to be her escort to Iga and protect her throughout the war. But, the both of us got close to each other that the death of her made it more likely that I would respond severely to her absence. And before that; 5 years ago, I broke the ninja rule and dated a civilian. But her village's water supply was tampered with and everyone died after drinking the water."

Wakana gasps slightly and covers her mouth with her hand in surprise.

"I cut myself off from the world and held a hard shell around me for some time. Blaming her death on me. It weighed on me for such a long time. I dried myself to the bones from all the pain I went through just to try to forget her but that never happened. Akane then came in."

"The Princess?"

"Yes. She was the first person I told about her death. And later, I confessed to her that I loved her. She broke my shell and made me able to love again. But…" I stopped and looked out of the bedroom window.

"Love is what made you what you are now." Wakana quietly muttered, making me nod my head. "I don't believe in love." Looking back at her, she sat up tensely and looked up through the window also and watched the snow fall in tiny white specks. "All the men I have dated, they only wanted me for my body. It took me long to realize that when I just kept getting dumped after just a few weeks, when they told me that I became boring to them."

"How did you become a sex slave?" I ask.

"My last boyfriend. We lived together for a while until we started to lose money. He never told me about his work, until I found out that the only way he ever kept the house was by gambling. And then he kept losing the money because he kept sleeping with prostitutes. The taxpayers came by our home and was about to kick us out till my boyfriend offered me to the headman. The headman came by the next day and offered big money for me."

"Tch." I click my tongue in annoyance at the sound of these guys.

 _Who would easily sell their girlfriend just to stay in a house?_

"He abused me every single day. Raped me every other day. Maybe when I was good I would be able to walk out of my room for a few hours. Never once did I enjoy an experience with that man."

"Have you been pregnant anytime?" I ask randomly.

"Had an abortion twice. Almost killed myself the first time because they killed something that was part of me." Wakana let out a sigh and I can see in her eyes that she felt so much pain when she had to kill her own child.

I then wondered how all this could happen at a young age. "Wakana, how old are you?"

"Recently just turned twenty-three." I look at her in surprise as I heard that she was just a year younger than me. "Why do you seem surprised?"

"I would have thought that you were way younger." I confess.

"Oh, well I'm not." She says with a shrug.

"But it's sad to hear what you've been through."

"You've been through worse." She simply says before she stood up from next to me and walks out of my room.

 _I would just call it even._


	9. Chapter 009- Used Love

I laid in my futon in the morning as I saw the sun brighten my room. I didn't sleep last night because I kept repeating the conversation in my head.

 _"But it's sad to hear what you've been through."_

 _"You've been through worse."_

Both of us did lose a loved one. She lost two of her unborn children and I lost two of my girlfriends. Both of us went through a lot but I was the one who was the victim of PTSD. Wakana is a very strong girl if she has been through that and still is able to stand next to me.

"Kotaro?" Wakana's voice came through the paper door and she opens it slowly. Walking in, she walks up to me with a tray of miso soup and green tea. "Made you breakfast."

"Thank you." I sit up from bed and accept the tray, putting it in front of me on the floor. Wakana then begins to walk out of the room while I look up at her in confusion. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna take a bath." She simply answers as she closes my door. I hear her footsteps walking down the hallway towards the bathroom.

Sighing to myself, I drank the miso soup before I drank all of the tea. And it was the same kind of tea that Wakana gave me a few days back. Lavender and lemon balm. It gave me a relaxing feeling in me this time instead of me just not trying to feel relaxed at all. Sitting on the futon in silence for a little bit, I began to hear the beautiful hum of Wakana's voice. It sounded like a siren song. The way the mermaids lured in the pirates to their deaths. And that's what it felt like with her songs.

Before I knew what I was doing, I was standing in front of the bathroom, ready to open the door and see Wakana. Am I really entranced by her singing? Or is it that I need her by my side 24/7? I don't know. Sliding the door open slowly, I walk into the bathroom and see Wakana standing in the tub facing away from me. She seemed to be in her own state as she continued to sing. I walked up to the tub and sat on the edge, listening to her sing passionately. But I didn't sit for long before Wakana turned around, making our eyes meet. She blushes red as she gasps, covering her breasts with her hands and going under the water. I lightly laugh when I saw her reaction.

Leaning down, I extended my hand out and reached under the water to find her. Gently pulling her face out of the water, I made her look up at me as she continued to redden. She finally jerks away from me and scoots back to the wall of the tub and looks away from me in embarrassment. I stood up from the edge and stripped all of my clothes in front of her.

"What are you doing?!" Wakana notices me stripping in front of her and covers her eyes.

 _For a woman who has had sex many times, she sure is innocent._

"I'm gonna take a bath." I tell her coolly.

"Could you please wait till after I'm done?"

Not replying to her, I jump into the tub and lean down to pick her up by the waist. She lets out a little scream as I picked her up and made her wrap her legs around my torso. Looking up at her face, she held her eyes closed and looked down from my face.

"Wakana...Look at me." I tell her in a quiet voice. Wakana slowly opens her eyes and meets them with mine as the both of us stared at each other for a moment.

I look down at her lips as I neared my face towards hers. Softly locking our lips together, I immediately felt Wakana begin to tense all over but she still forced herself to kiss me back awkwardly. Letting go of her, she looks away from me as though she did something wrong.

"I can't do it." She mutters.

"What?"

"I can't have sex with you." I stared at her in silence as I heard her begin to sob. "I don't want to feel used again."

I lightly caress her cheek as she began to cry. "I don't want you to feel that way, Wakana. I want you to feel loved." Then it hit me; hard.

 _My feelings didn't see Wakana as Akane. My feelings towards Wakana is real._

Wakana doesn't respond as she continued to cry while I kissed her all over her face. She's never felt love before. And now, I want her to feel it. I don't want her to only feel used love all these years.


	10. Chapter 010-Restless Nights, Burden Days

Wakana must have been exhausted because just after a few minutes of crying, she fell asleep in my arms. I gently took her out of the bathtub and wrapped her with a blanket. Walking out of the bathroom, I walk down to my room and laid her down onto my futon.

Looking down at her, I couldn't help but admire her beautiful features. She could be a geisha but instead she was turned into a sex slave. I can easily compare Akane and Shizuka but I cannot compare them to Wakana. She's like the moon to those two suns. She's very shy and wants to take on the weight of everybody. But Akane and Shizuka wanted to take off the weight for everyone. The two were also very outgoing and energetic.

Covering her with the blanket, I laid down next to her propped up on the elbow and watched her peacefully sleep. But she be a restless sleeper because after a few minutes she began to toss and turn in her sleep until I decided to go under the covers and hold her still. Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I pulled her close against my chest making her calm down a little as she laid against me. I let out a small sigh as I saw her begin to sleep peacefully again.

"Kotaro…" I look down at her as I heard her call out to me sheepishly. Her eyes seemed to be half closed as she looked up at me with a jaded expression.

We stared at each other for a few moments before she leans up to me and locks our lips together. I was surprised for a second before I felt myself relax and kiss her back. But her body grew limp as we parted our lips and she goes back to sleep.

 _Did she just kiss me in her sleep?_

I look at her curiously as she slept soundly against my chest, wondering what the hell just happened.

 _~Push Me Away~_

I woke up a few hours later without realizing that I have fallen asleep. The room was colored in warm colors as the winter sunrise began to come over the horizon. Looking down, Wakana doesn't seem to have moved from her spot against my chest.

 _Doesn't look like she's restless anymore._

I began to get out of bed to make breakfast for her, but I must have moved a little too much causing her to stir in her sleep. Wakana grabs hold of my wrist and looks up at me the same way she did last night.

"Don't leave me…" My eyes widen when she whispers me a plead.

"I'm not gonna leave you." I gently reply.

She stared up at me for a moment before her grip on my wrist faded away and she went back to an unconscious state. I couldn't help but let out a sigh as she grew to confuse me. I barely understand anything about her. This is something new I have never seen.

Silently standing up from the floor, I slipped out of the bedroom and walked down the hall into the kitchen to make some food for us. Looking around, I noticed the kitten and Hosuke already in the kitchen, patiently waiting for their breakfast. Finding some dried meat that Hanzo brought in awhile age, I set it in front of the kitten and also place some spring water in a shallow bowl for it to drink out of. For Hosuke, I pulled out some seeds and place them in front of him as he began to peck at them.

Turning around, I begin to prepare some miso soup and tea for Wakana before she wakes up. It didn't take long because everything already seemed to be made, only to be heated before consumed. It was completely silent in the house, besides for the movements of the kitten, Hosuke, and I in the kitchen. I decide to go and check up on Wakana to make sure she woke up clueless in my bedroom. But when I peeked in, she tossed and turned uncontrollably as her eyes were shut tightly as though she was in pain. Walking up to her, I quietly call out her name and place a hand on her shoulder before Wakana's eyes shot open and she looked around the room rapidly.

"Are you okay Wakana?" I ask as she seemed to grow conscious.

"I'm sorry." She replies as she sat up with her knees to her chest.

"Why do you keep saying that? Why do you think you did something wrong? You didn't do anything wrong." I tell her as she looks the opposite way from me.

"I feel like a burden to you." She answers after a few slow-moving moments.

I couldn't say anything to her as I sat near her in complete silence. None of us said or did anything for a few minutes until Wakana let out a sigh. She looks down at herself before she noticed that she was completely naked.

"Why am I naked and in your room?" I didn't answer her as I firmly grabbed hold of her and pulled her into my embrace.

"Kotaro?"

"You're not a burden. I want you here."

I hear her slightly gasp before she got a grip of my clothes and pulled me against herself. I think this was the first times she has ever wanted me close to her.


	11. Chapter 011- Real Kisses

"I think we're snowed in." I hear Wakana say as she walks into my room and looks out of the window. I follow her gaze and saw the snowflakes slowly come down from the sky in large forms.

I wasn't really worried about what was going on outside but what was inside. If it's warm inside and there was enough food, then we would be fine. Winter is the time when we mostly eat meat and sometimes also miso soup. But because we don't have much vegetables, we can easily become deficient in something. The kitten will once in awhile find a mouse hiding somewhere and get a good meal out of it and Hosuke would find something here and there when outside. But I still fed him some seeds.

Wakana walks up to me as I sat on the futon and in front of me, I held my brush and had a piece of paper on the floor. I was writing a letter to send to Hanzo asking for him to call over Renn to see if I could go back into duty early in the spring. She sets down the tray with two cups with leaves in the and a pot of hot water. Picking up the pot, she fills one cup and hands it to me before I take it with my free hand and felt the hot surface warm me up. She fills another for herself and looks down at the paper in front of me.

"What are you writing?" She asks.

"A letter to Hanzo. I'm requesting my post back." I tell her as I sip my tea.

"Oh."

"Is something the matter?" I ask as I look up at Wakana and see her slightly frown.

"No, nothing's wrong." She replies as she looks the opposite way from me.

I sigh. "I'm still not very experienced with women, but I do know that look." I say as I remembered how Akane always frowned when I didn't sleep with her and also when Goemon took over my post. But still, interacting with women isn't in the Ninja Technique Book.

"Well, I came here for a purpose. And that purpose was to help you get better. You're way better now and that means," she stops and takes a breath. "You don't need me here anymore."

I look at her with a mix of bewilderment and dumbfound as I heard her say that. "Why would you even say that?" She looks back in confusion. "You're repeating Goemon's words of 'she needs a job and a place to stay'. But you didn't hear me say 'when I'm cured you need to leave'."

She looks at me, completely speechless.

"You can stay here as long as you want." I say as I go back to writing the letter.

"Thank you!" In an instant, Wakana jumps on me and wraps her arms around my neck causing me to mess up on the writing and spill some of the tea.

"Wakana?!" I call out her name as I felt myself begin to heat up and become flustered for a moment.

"Oh my! I'm so sorry Kotaro!" She looks down at the mess on me; ink smeared on both our clothes and tea all over the ground.

"Um, it's fine." I looked down to the side to try to hide my blushing, but Wakana didn't look in my direction as she begins to clean up the tea with a rag. "Thanks."

"No problem. Er, sorry about the letter." I look down at the piece of paper with half of my letter already written until there was some blotches of ink through some words and a smear across the entire piece of paper.

"It's fine. I'll write another one." I say as I fold the piece of paper and take out another one and begin to copy what I wanted to say.

We became quiet as Wakana took the tea out of the room and I wrote my letter for a little bit. It doesn't take long till I finish my letter and wrap it to be secured to Hosuke's foot during delivery. I open my window and let him go and watched the owl turn into a dot in the white sky.

"Sent him off?" I look back and see Wakana with a rag in her hands as she looks out of the window.

"Yeah. Master Hanzo will be getting the letter by tomorrow." I look back at the white sky.

"You still have ink on you." Wakana says as she walks up to me and makes me face her.

Without saying another word, she uses the rag to wipe off the almost completely dry ink on my shirtless body. After a few minutes of trying to get all the ink off, Wakana continues to stroke my chest and core; with her hand. She seemed to be in her own world as she glided her finger over my abs, causing me to smirk. Grabbing her hand, she seemed to snap out of it when she felt her small hand in mine. Brushing pink, she attempts to leave the room but I quickly pull her back and held her against my chest.

"You seem to like touching me." I whisper in her ear.

"You must be seeing thing. I-I was just trying to get the rest of the ink off of you." My smirk grew as I saw Wakana become flustered and try to make up and excuse.

I lowered myself and lock my lips with Wakana's as she continues to make lame excuses about her feeling my body. And to my surprise, Wakana doesn't tense when I do. Parting with her, I look down into her eyes, not far from almost making our nose touch.

"You didn't tense."

"I think I like kissing you now."

I smiled as I heard her confess and once again lock her lips with mine. Enjoying the kiss as a real couple.


	12. Chapter 012- Dreaming The Dead

" _Kotaro?"_

" _Kotaro."_

" _Hey, Kotaro."_

I open my eyes from the sudden voices coming from thin air and look into the pitch blackness of our room. Looking down to my side, I see Wakana sleeping soundly next to me; not noticing the sudden voices in the room. I slowly sat up from the pillow and looked around the room to find out where and who the voices were from. The room was completely chilled from the drop of temperature outside and goosebumps ran up my arms and neck. I hear a slight purr before looking at the corner of the room to find the kitten sleeping on a little pillow we gave him for bed. Shaking my head, I thought to myself that maybe I was just imagining it. I went to lay back in bed until I heard it again.

" _Kotaro."_

I look down at Wakana again and see that she was completely motionless as she slept. Looking back at the sliding door, I see a crack between the frame and door. Raising an eyebrow in confusion, I slowly stood up from the futon and walked towards the door, quietly making sure I don't wake up Wakana. Taking a slight hold of the handle, I slid the door open wide enough for me to be able to walk through before walking into the hallway. Looking down both ways in confusion, I walk down to the living room and kitchen to see no one and hear no voices. Wanting to go back to bed, I sighed and began to walk back down the hallway before I froze.

" _So you're leaving me?"_

Quickly snapping my head back, I heard the voice directly behind me only to see that I was the only one in the dark room.

" _Kotaro,"_

I grew fearful as the voice continued to call my name until I finally noticed the mournful sound in the voice.

"No, it can't be." I said to myself as I looked down at the ground.

" _Kotaro, why did you leave me?"_

I look and felt my heart skip several beats as a ghostly figure of Shizuka appeared in front of me. She wore the clothes she died in, but no blood stained the fabric like it had to.

"Shizuka,"

" _Kotaro, you loved me right?"_

She asks me as she takes a step towards me.

" _Why did you leave me?"_

"You died." I whisper.

" _And you should have joined me, Kotaro."_

I felt my throat grow a lump as she neared me with her blood covered hand extending out to me.

" _We could have been together in the afterlife."_

I take a step back before from her to create some distance between us, but I planted myself against the wall as I tried and felt my heart rate increase and she continued to get closer to me.

" _If you loved me, Kotaro, you would have done that for me."_

Shizuka runs her hand along my jaw and pushes her transparent body against mine. I looked down into her face as she looks up and me. With a sad smile, a drop of blood ran down from the corner of her lip and down her neck before it was soaked up by the blood drenched kimono she wore when I found her.

"Ah!" I gasp out as I sat up from the futon again and support myself with my elbow before a hand touched my naked shoulder, making me jump again and look to the side to find Wakana looking at me with a worried expression again.

I let out a sigh before leaning down and turning to lie on my stomach.

"Are you alright?" She asks me, like she does every night.

"I don't know." I answer.

"Who was it this time?"

"Shizuka."

Wakana nods her head before getting on my lower back and straddling me before running her hands up the sides of my spine and applying pressure to my tense muscles. I let out a small moan as she circled her thumbs on my shoulder blades and kneaded her palms on my midback. I shut my eyes in bliss as she continued to massage me and relax my muscles and thoughts. She even popped my spine in a few places as she ran her hand down my back. Running the base of her palm up my back, her fingers wrapped around the nape of my neck and she massages up and down my neck before running her fingers through my messy white hair.

"You feel better?" She asks me as she continue to run her fingers and curl my hair.

"A little." I say as I open my eyes and look up at her. "I just have a small headache."

Wakana looks down at me with a small smile as I talk to her like a little child. Leaning down, she places her lips on the top of my head and kisses me before standing up from the futon and walking out of the room. I raise an eyebrow before standing up from the futon also and follow her out to find her warming up some water to put into the tub in the wash room.

She lets a large pot boil with water before draining it into the tub to warm it up till it steamed in the dark. Lighting some candles, she pulls me into the room before striping in front of me and begin to take my pants off. Pulling me by the hand, the two of us sink into the tub and I immediately felt myself ease all over. Pulling Wakana to sit on my lap, I held her loosely around her waist as she wrapped her arms around my arms and intertwined her fingers with mine.

"Kotaro," I look down at Wakana as she calls out my name and meet her jade orbs. "I love you."

My lips curl a little smile before replying.

"I love you too, Wakana."


	13. Chapter 013- Simple Tests

I sat on a mat with Wakana next to me as Renn wrote notes down on his scroll about the visit. We all sat in silence for a while, drinking tea, till Renn looks up at me again and held some kind of writing utensils to his chin.

"No pain internally?" He asks.

"No."

"Any muscle spasms?"

"No."

"Headaches?"

I hesitate before completely answering him.

"...No." My answer results in the doctor sighing to himself as he slumps his shoulders.

"Last time you said no, you a had sever concussion." Renn informs me. "You have a history with head traumas so I will have to do this test with you." I felt Wakana's eyes on the side of my face before she spoke up finally.

"What do these tests include?"

"He must memorize objects and we must test to see how fast his reflexes are to be sure that nothing is wrong with him." Renn explains as he pulls out three colored rags from the shoulder bag he brings with him everywhere.

"Why is it so simple?" She asks.

"The brain is a mysterious organ. So little damage to the brain and the victim would become brain dead. His head traumas would have caused him amnisia, but so far, no signs of memory loss has been found." Renn explains to her as he puts out three identical cups out with the green piece of fabric under the middle cup. "I think you remember this. But I will explain anyway. I hid a colored cloth under the middle cup and I will be rearranging the order. You must remember where the cloth must be. I will experiment 10 tries with you. And if you fail any time, you will not go back to your post."

My expression stayed neutral as he spoke to me in a warning. And it was normal for him to say this, especially since he's said this many times in the past. But everytime he has done this test on me, I have successfully passed. I am not failing this time.

Without saying about word, Renn began shuffling the cups around before he looks up at me to tell me that I must choose. I felt tension surrounding Wakana as she sat next to me, biting her lower lip. I stare at the cups before pointing to the one on the right. Renn picks up the cup to reveal the green cloth. He nods once before reshuffling the cups around again. He started with just moving them around twice and after every turn, shuffled an extra two times. By the tenth shuffle, Renn orders me to close my eyes and listen to the shuffling to find the cloth. My eyes widen in surprise at his request, but I reluctantly obeyed and shut my eyes tightly. Listening to the shuffling, I tried to figure out where the cup was going.

 _Left_

 _Left_

 _Right_

 _Left_

 _Right_

 _Right_

 _Center_

The shuffling noise stops and I felt both sets of eyes on me. It made me feel nervous on the inside, knowing that there is a greater chance that I could get this wrong.

"You got it, Kotaro?" Renn asks me.

"Honestly, no." I answer bluntly with my lids still shut.

"Let me give you some encouragement; not even Goemon can pass this test." I frown as I heard him smile.

"Gee, thanks."

"Anytime."

The room went silent again before I finally let out a breath of air and tell Renn to lift the center cup. As I heard it lift, Wakana let out a gasp and I felt my heart skip a beat.

 _Did I fail?_

I hesitated before I finally opened my eyes and saw the two cups on either side of the green cloth in the center. I look up at Renn and see him staring at me with a small smile of triumph.

"Does this mean,"

"You get to go back to your post in the spring."

A feeling of relief flowed through my body as I heard those words. A proud feeling opened in my chest and I smiled widely at the news.

"Congratulations Kotaro." Wakana tells me as she pat my knee.

I didn't say anything to her as I turn to face her and lock my lips onto hers. She let out a surprised gasp before kissing me in return.

"So when did you get a girlfriend?" Renn's voice ruins the moment as he watched the two of us kiss. Parting my lips from her to look at Renn, I gave him a playful glare without a word, making him raise both his hands and smile. "Alright then."

Then the little kitten walks into the room and jumps onto the table in front of us, making Renn look at him curiously.

"And the kitten?"

"Wakana found him before the winter got bad. Brought him here and now he's a domestic." Renn nods at my words.

"Did you name him yet?"

"Well we don't know the gender yet." Wakana tells him. He then picks up the little kitten and checks him out before setting him down on the table again.

"Well, the kitten is a she. So that narrows it down."

"Can we name her Akane?" I look back at Wakana in surprise before I nodded in reluctance.

"It's will take some getting used to but you can." Wakana gives me a smile before thanking me and picking up the little kitten in her hands.

"Your name is Akane." The kitten then meows in response.


	14. Chapter 014- Taking Her Back

"Isn't that exciting." Wakana says out of the blue in the middle of dinner.

"What is?" I ask.

"You will be going back to work soon, and I will be somewhat of a stay at home mother." I choke on the ramen I was drinking and look up at Wakana as she throws me a concerned expression. "You alright?"

"What did you just mean right there?"

She raises an eyebrow. "Huh? Did I say something?"

"When you said 'stay at home mother',"

"Eek!" She interrupts with a squeak before bowing to me deeply. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that!" I look down in surprise before letting out a chuckle.

"Geez, you're so cute." I tell her as I pick her up from the ground and grab hold of her by the waist.

"Now you're the one saying things." She replies with a bright blush.

"What I am speaking of is 100 present true, so don't deny it." Leaning into her, we lock our lips together and begin to kiss each other passionately before a distant noise catches my ears and I immediately part from her and listen to the surroundings.

"Kotaro?" Wakana looks at me in confusion as I stare in a certain direction.

"Someone's coming."

"How do you know?"

"Ninjas has very sensitive hearing; we can hear a footstep from a mile away." I stood up from where we were sitting and walked over to the front door.

The snow has slowly been melting so there wasn't too much snow around. Yet even with my boots, the snow went up to my ankle. Continuing to listen to my surroundings, I narrow my eyes in the direction I hear the hoofbeats of a pair of horses. Wakana stood at the doorway and watched me in silence as I stood in the crisp air of the ending winter. And before long, two horses with riders made their way towards the residence in a galloping gait. I stood motionless as the two approach me. As they neared, the horse's gaits slowed to a trot and down to a halt. Silence stood between the man on the black horse and me as we stared at each other with unreadable expressions.

"So the legendary Kotaro Fumma heard me from a distance. I'm impressed." I didn't say anything as I continued to stare at him. "Guess you're wondering who I am and why I am here. Well, my name is Reizei Hiroyasu. The son of the headman in the city of Kikohoma. And this is my mentor who is accompanying me, Satomi." Yet he nods towards the older looking man behind him, I continued to glare at the brat in front of me as I figured out who he is. "Don't talk much?"

"What are you doing here?" I finally ask.

"You have something of Master Hiroyasu." Satomi says in a hoarse voice.

"My father's little slut. I know she's here." I continue to narrow my eyes at him as I pursed my lips. "Let me explain to you why she is ours. My father bought her from some punk back in the early spring and she has caught my eye. I remember the first time I was able to get my hands on her. She enjoyed it like she was in the heavens." Reizei dismounts from his horse and walks towards me with a sly grin across his face. "Several times, she has been mine. But my father has taken that chance from me."

"You're the one who impregnated her." I growl under my breathe.

"Yes. And the born sons would have been mine, but my father took them away from me." His grin changes to a frown as he looks at me from the corner of his oval eyes.

"She was never yours to begin with."

"Heh." Reizei lifts his chin and looks up to the sky. "I made a deal with my father. If I find her and bring her back in one piece; she's mine. All mine."

I grit my teeth and swiftly pull out my sharple and point it at him with the barrel aiming to his forehead. My thumb was at the end of the hammer as it stayed up and middle finger firmly against the trigger. I will shoot him the next time he says something about her.

"You wouldn't do that." He says with a confident grin.

"I don't care if you were the headman, you are not gonna take her away from me." I tell him.

"Oh, well look who was boosted some feelings for the little whore." Reizei walks towards the gun without a drop of concern. Like he doesn't care if I blow his head off.

"She's not a whore. She was abused."

"By my father. But I would have given her everything she wanted. Especially children." I bite my bottom lip before looking back from the corner of my eye and see that Wakana has left the door and went to hide.

At least she is safe.

I look back in front and met eyes with the little brat. He still held his cocky grin and a confident face, even with the barrel inches from his forehead. But just as I take my grip off of the trigger, Reizei twists his body and swings his heel into my side causing me to drop the gun in the snow. I fell to one knee as the pain in my gut increases and my entire body began to spasm.

"You're an elite ninja and you drop at a small attack like that?!" He laughs as he watches me struggle in the snow. "You are so weak!" He says as he again attacks me with a kick in the face.

I fell into the snow before he pins me down with his foot on my neck.

"Give the girl to me and I might just let you live." I look up from the snow and see his mentor still sitting on his horse with a blank expression.

It was silent between us three for a moment before a click was heard from behind. Reizei's weight subsides a little and I look back to see Wakana holding my gun in both hands. The gun slightly shook in her grip and she just looks plain scared even with just standing in front of the man who made her in bare.

"Now you wouldn't shoot me would you?" He asks confidently. But Wakana doesn't answer as she instinctively pulls the trigger.

Reizei flew to the side, letting me get up from the ground and grab the gun from her hands.

"She shot me!" He shouts as he held his left shoulder. I wrapped my arm around Wakana's shoulders and pulled her close before pointing my gun again to the ass.

"I have a better aim. So I suggest you leaving us alone. And now." Reizei doesn't say anything as he looks at the two of us with a frown and slowly made his way towards the horses. His mentor hasn't flinched at the action that just happened, which is strange.

The two finally rode away from the residence before I finally lowered my sharple. But I suddenly grew weak and the pain in my gut wouldn't seem to cease. My grip around Wakana loosened and I collapsed to the ground again. Wakana calls out to me but my vision was going blurry and I could barely hear my surrounding. And without surprise, a figure covered in crimson and gold appeared from the blue and stood next to Wakana.

"You're an ass, Goemon." I say before I lost all consciousness.


	15. Chapter 015- Friends and Brothers

"How did this happen?"

"I don't know. He just attacked Kotaro."

"Where did you see him attack him?"

"On his side."

"Shit. It got his stomach wound."

I slightly open my heavy eyelids and look up to see Goemon cradling me in his arms as he quickly makes his way into the house. Wakana and Goemon frantically spoke back and forth, but I couldn't pick up on what they were saying. I felt pain in my gut as Goemon places me on the futon.

"Goemon-" I call out to him in a weak voice.

"Hey. Looks like you're still alive." He replies before placing the back of his hand on my forehead. "Shit. He has a sudden fever." He tells Wakana. "Get some cold water and some herbs."

Wakana nods and leaves the room.

"Listen to me; you are not gonna die on us. Not from that brat, and not from the fever. We'll fix it."

"You saw the whole thing." I tell him.

"Yeah. But I didn't know it was gonna end like this." Before I could say anything else, i lost my consciousness once again and faded into the dark.

 _~ Push Me Away ~_

I woke up again to look around to see the room darkened, lighted by a lantern on top of the dresser. It was already dark out from the looks of it but I couldn't tell how long I was out. Several hours maybe?

Looking down at myself, I see a fresh bandage around my torso but there was still some blood still on my body. I suppose that's why I felt weak, it was because I was losing an excessive amount of blood.

Attempting to get up, I grunt in pain just from sitting up from the futon. Getting up from the futon finally, I slowly made my way out of the room and down the hall before I began to hear voices from the dining room.

"Wait, you were actually jealous of Kotaro when you first became a ninja?" I hear Wakana ask in surprise.

" _I know this story."_

I say to myself as I shook my head.

"Oh yeah. When I was younger, I always saw myself as the most handsome guy around. Still am. But when I first saw Kotaro, I just thought to myself; 'Wow. He looks so perfect.'. And that was when I competed with him. He was the silent type. Barely spoke. And some girls saw that as hot. And this competing went on for several years. It was more one-sided than between us two. He saw that I was competing with him but he just ignored it. Didn't care."

"So what made you two friends?"

"Six years ago; when he first met Shizuka. I met her once and she caught my eye. But she paid her attention to Kotaro more than me so I gave up on trying. Leaving for my mission a few days later, I got a letter from Hanzo saying that the village Kotaro stayed in had the water tampered with and everyone died within a few days. I was the one who dragged his ass out of the village; covered in blood and wrapped in a hard shell of loneliness. I couldn't leave him broken like that, so I became the shoulder he needed to lean on. And since than, we have progressed. We consider each other brothers and watch each other's back." I listen to Goemon as I leaned against a wall and remembered how he changed.

" _Thank you for being there; now and then."_

I mentally tell him before revealing myself from around the corner. Wakana looks up at me in surprise and quickly stood up to support me.

"What are you doing out of bed?" She asks me.

"Well it looks like you two were waiting for me to wake up anyway." I reply with a small smile before smacking the back of Goemon's head.

"Hey!" He whines.

"Thank you." I say with a smile.

"Don't die on us."


	16. Chapter 016 - Last Visit

"How does it look, doc?" Goemon asks Renn as he cleans the open wound on my stomach as I laid on a futon in my room.

"His wound was barely healed when he attacked him. The stitches would have been safe to take out in a few days but when he got kicked in the side, he was able to rip out the stitches and open the wound." Renn pulls out a needle and string before beginning the stitching process again. "The boy's attack wasn't that hard, not even leaving the slightest bruise; but he was somehow able to hit the right spot to be able to cause Kotaro some pain." I let out a grunt as I felt my skin form together again by the string.

"I was also distracted. He lowered my guard when I should have just blown his head off." I sigh in disappointment before grunting in pain and tightly grip Wakana's hand.

She looks down at me in concern before looking back up at the two men in front of her.

"That was real bravery, what you did out there." Goemon tells her in a quiet voice.

"I didn't do much."

"You did a lot for someone in your position. Scared to go out and face that kid who raped you many times, yet you still picked up that gun and aimed. The aim wasn't that great but it showed him that you have free will and that you will stand up for yourself." Wakana looks down at the ground before looking back at me.

"He's right. And you saved my life. We wouldn't have known what Reizei would have done if he really was serious about going far enough to taking my life," I grunt in pain again before continuing. "But I know one thing I do know; he isn't gonna get near you anymore."

A smile appears on Wakana's lips once again. "Thank you, Kotaro." I was about to reply until Renn pulls the string again, tightening the stitches on my wound.

"Damnit." I grit my teeth in pain.

"Will Kotaro still be able to go back to his post in the spring, even with this injury?" I look up at Goemon in surprise before the doctor interrupts me quickly.

"Yes. The internal damage has fully healed, but this is still nothing to a Fuuma." Renn looks at me with a small grin before going back to the stitching. "This wound will heal in a matter of days. There will be a scar; just the way you like them, and these stitches won't be needed anymore."

"Thanks Renn." I say as I continue to stare at Goemon.

 _~ Push Me Away ~_

Rennoshin left after a little bit. Wakana also left my room to make some miso soup for us for dinner before Goemon left back to Iga tonight, which really isn't that far if on horseback.

Goemon sat on the futon in my room in silence as he stares into space. I take a glance at him from over my shoulder as I changed my kimono on one side of the room and sighed. I need to know.

"How did you know?" I ask simply as I tied my belt on my pants.

"That you are coming back in the spring?" Goemon doesn't say anything until he looks up at me with a frank expression. "I kept pushing Hanzo to tell me about the post. I would have thought that you would consider going back to a full-time career as a ninja and always being gone."

"Why are you so worried about me going back to being a ninja?" I ask him. "I have been a ninja my whole life, why worry now?"

"Who's gonna be here with Wakana?" He asks me bluntly, making me look away from him.

"I will be here to protect her." Answering quietly, I let out a sigh and finish tying my sash before turning around and looking back at my friend. "I will protect her with my life."

Goemon stood up and walked up to me before placing a hand on my shoulder. "That means I have to be here to protect you."

"Goemon, you don't,"

"And I want to. As a friend."

We smile at each other for moment before I thought of something funny.

"Was I just friendzoned?"

Goemon takes his hand off of my shoulder and takes a step back. "No homo. I like girls."

"Haha. I know." I laugh before I make my way towards the door.

"Kotaro!" I hear Wakana call out my name before looking back at Goemon in curiosity.

Walking out into the hallway, Goemon follows behind before we reach the front of the home and see Wakana standing at the entrance with that brats mentor next to her. I look at him in surprise before my eyes narrow and I quickly stand in front of Wakana in defence.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I ask roughly.

"Kotaro, he's just here to,"

"Apologize." He says to me before taking a deep bow. "I apologize for the troubles my Master has caused during our visit. He disobeyed orders from his father to not engage in violence for this visit. And Miss Wakana did have a choice. There was no order to bring her back." I watched him cautiously, trying to find any little flinch of lying from the man; but found nothing but the truth.

"Why didn't you stop that brat when he was about to kill Kotaro?" Goemon asks sternly.

"Like I said; my Master is quite violent. He gets his way by beating and killing men." He looks straight at me before continuing. "Your wife is lucky to be alive."

Both Wakana and I blush red as Goemon stood chuckling, but I quickly change my expression and glare at him.

"Was that a threat?"

"No. That was a compliment." And with that; he left.


	17. Chapter 017- Strangers To Spouses

I stood outside in the crisp air as night fell to pitch black. Silence was surrounding me and felt no presence around mine.

Wakana already retired to bed before I decided to stand out here after dinner.

Goemon left to the nearby village to get some things done. And when he says that, I'm thinking brothel.

I also got a letter back from Hanzo about my post. I will be back in the spring, but it will be a while until I go back on missions. Maybe until next spring.

"Meow!" I hear a tiny call from Akane from inside before smiling and taking in the scene one last time.

Turning to the house, I walk inside and find the kitten sitting in front of the door, patiently waiting for me to come back inside. Picking her up, I give her a rub under her chin and let her attempt to bite me. Smiling at the growing kitten, I put her down on the ground again and walk down the hallway towards our room and silently open the door. Looking down at the futon in the center of the room, I find Wakana lying on her side facing me, sleeping restfully.

It was kind of now natural for me to smile everytime I see Wakana. She really changed me from that bullshit self that I was just a few months ago. It was Goemon's idea in the beginning and I owe him a lot since that day he brought her in. From strangers to spouses.

I quickly take off my kimono and leave on my pants on as walk over to the futon. Sliding under the cover and moving my body close to Wakana, I wrapped my arm around her waist and place my lips on her forehead. Kissing her lightly, I close my eyes and allow sleep to come over me.

 _~ Push Me Away ~_

I woke up with a sudden uneasy feeling in me. I look around me to find that it was still late in the night or just very early in the morning and notice that Wakana wasn't in the futon with me. Her side of the cover was folded over, meaning she must have left the room to go to the bathroom. But I just couldn't shake off this uneasy feeling.

Straining my hearing, I attempt to hear any movement anywhere in the home, but I couldn't hear any footsteps for some odd reason.

Finally deciding to get up from the futon, I was still slightly sluggish from just waking up but I needed to go check on her.

Sliding open the door, I walk out of the room and into the silent hallway in caution. Looking towards the living room, I sensed nothing in particular. Turning towards the bathroom, I walk down the dark hallway until I saw that the door was slid open and had a dim light inside the room. Raising an eyebrow, I continue to walk towards the room until I look around the corner and find Wakana's body lying near the doorway with a lantern next to her.

"Wakana!" Quickly going down to her side, I grab her shoulders and shook her. But she doesn't respond.

Lying my fingers on her neck, I felt a very slow pulse and a shallow breathing come from her. Taking a look at her face, I surprisingly find a trickle of blood stream down her jawline. Moving some of her hair away from her face, I find a small gash where something or someone hit her with a dull edge.

Suddenly, I felt a second presence behind me.

"Did you really think I would leave without a fight?" Riezie says to me as I felt his sword at the nape of my neck.

Frowning at the little brats voice, I let out a sigh and close my eyes for a moment.

"Did you not get my warning?"

Swiftly turning, I swing my leg at his feet and knock them over. He quickly falls to the floor before I stood up and kicked him in the face. Then noticing, his left arm was bandaged entirely and he wore a different, more raggedy kimono than last time. But, his stupid face was still the same, with an add on of blood.

"When do you give up, you spoiled brat?" I ask him as I slowly walk up to him.

He doesn't answer me, but instead grabbed my ankle and swept me off my feet. I fell on my back by the time he was half way up and getting a grip of his sword. Slashing down at the floor, I swiftly move out of the way and go up in a defensive position.

"You just don't understand, do you?" He growls.

I could only stare at him with a grim expression before he tries slashing at me with a sloppy slew.

"This whore was mine first, and I am taking back what is mine!" Riezie continues to slash at me with his sword until I went too far and got corned at the end of the hall.

My inner conscious was beginning to panic, while my outer core looked too neutral to care.

"And like I promised, I'm gonna take her back. This time, killing you." The brat suddenly swung his sword from above and full force, giving me only a millisecond to position myself and catch the blade in my palms.

"Tch!" A sudden wave of pain runs through my arm and I felt my blood run down my arm.

"You won't be able to hold it for long. Just let it go and the pain will be gone." Riezie directs me with a smirk, but I don't listen to him as I attempt to grip his sword with my damp hands.

I was down to my knees and his blade was inches from my face. My heart ran as my adrenaline ran through me and sweat ran down my body. I felt the blade about to slip my grip until Riezie jolted forward and suddenly all his strength vanished.

Quickly getting a grip of the blade, I throw it down and kick him back away from me. And to my surprise, I find Goemon standing at the end of the hall with some of his kunai knives in one hand and the other extended out in front of him. Meeting his eyes, I saw a look of annoyance as he stared down at the body.

I don't hesitate to get up and make my way to Wakana; who was still laying on the floor in the bathroom. Sitting her up in my embrace, I gently shook her and called out her name until she was finally able to open her eyes. Looking up to me, I felt my eyes began to tear in guilt.

"Ko...taro…" Her speech was slurred and she wasn't able to look up at me without a glassy look in her eyes.

"You're alive." I whisper before the tears fell.

Leaning down, I make both our foreheads touch; making it easier for Wakana to see that I was beginning to cry.

"What's wrong?" I couldn't answer her question as a lump was stuck in my throat.


	18. Chapter 018 - Savior

Wakana and I sat in the bathtub after the incident and comforted each other. She was beginning to feel sick and there was blood on her clothes and skin, I decided we needed to calm our nerves after what happened.

I picked up a cloth and soaked it with some medicine and dabbed it on the gash. Wakana barely flinches while I made sure I didn't apply too much pressure on it and made it start bleeding again.

"I'm sorry." I hear Wakana whisper.

"For what?" I look down at her as she continues to look down at the water.

"For being such a burden. You almost got killed today because of me."

I let out a sigh as she makes this complaint again.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" I ask, making her look up at me finally. "You are not causing a burden. I would have done anything to save you tonight."

Wakana looks away from me before I hook her chin with my finger and face her towards me again.

"If anything did happen to you, I would have killed myself."

"Kotaro,"

"I'm serious. I can't live without you." I tell her in a frank manner.

It grew silent for a minute as we both stared at each other before Wakana leans up and locks her lips with mine. Pulling her closer to me, I push my lips against hers and held a firm grip as we continue to kiss passionately. Or until the door was knocked on.

"Hey, quick making out during a situation like this." I hear Goemon say from the other side of the door with a smirk on his lips.

Wakana blushes deeply while I roll my eyes at him.

"How you two doing?"

"Wakana is doing better." I reply.

"And you?"

I look down at my cut hand before putting it in the water again. "I just got a small cut, nothing big."

"Okay. Well, I got the body out and it is gone forever. By the way, did you know your little creek outside is deeper than you think?" Goemon remarks to me, making me raise an eyebrow at him.

"Wait, what?"

"I dumped him in the creek." I open my mouth to protest but then close it because I quickly calculated the rapid speed, height of the water and the direction of the creek. And that body will already be decomposed and frozen the next time it meets another being.

"Also, I made some ramen, so when you're ready, I'll be with Akane and Hosuke in the kitchen."

His silent footsteps left the doorway and Wakana and I were alone once again.

Wakana suddenly leans into me and wraps her arms around my waist in silence. Looking down at her, I wrap my arms around her and kiss the top of her head.

"Kotaro, I love you. Thank you for saving me." She whispers loud enough for me to hear, making me let out a little smile.

"I love you too, Wakana."


	19. Chapter 019 - Present Day

"It's not that cold, Wakana." I call back as I stood outside in the coloring lawn.

"Well, you aren't the temperature sensitive one here!" She complains back at me as she rubs her arms.

It has been several weeks since the incident with Riezie and we haven't looked back at that day since. Wakana was now worry free that someone isn't out there trying to steal her back like some object and I didn't have to worry about becoming mental again.

The winter was beginning to pass and the snow was melting. I get kind of excited with the changing of the seasons because it is just a beautiful scene and I wanted to take a walk down to the creek with Wakana. But she wouldn't stop complaining that it was cold out.

"Come on, Wakana." I urge with a smile. "I'll give you my jacket."

She looks up at me for a moment before walking over to me and holding her arms out towards me. Taking off my jacket, I throw it over her like a cloak and tie it. Hiding her arms behind the fabric, she takes in my scent from it and smiles brightly.

"Okay, now we can go for that walk." I tell her as I began to walk away on a trail.

Quickly catching up to me, she walks by my side and I slow down my pace for her to be able to walk together. As I walked with my arms at my sides, I felt a close presence near my hand before looking down and seeing Wakana reluctantly try to take a hold of my hand. Smiling at her shyness, I take hold of her hand and intertwine our fingers together.

"Your hands are cold." I comment as I tighten our grip.

She looks down at the melting trail with a flush of color in her cheeks as she noticed that I caught her trying to hold my hand.

We walked down the entire trail and finally got to the creek. Standing and admiring from the bank, I took in the warm air and felt the blooming sensation of spring calm my body and relax me.

"You were right; it is nice out here." Wakana tells me in a quiet voice without looking away from the scene in front of her.

I bite my lower lip for a moment as I look at her and think to myself if right now was a better idea than later. Examining Wakana's soft expression, I argued with myself until I finally made the decision.

"Wakana," I quietly call out her name, making her look up at me with a curious look.

"What is it?"

I hesitate before speaking. "I know we haven't really been together for a very long time. Maybe just a month or two, but," I advert my eyes as I try to find the right words. "It seems right. You helping me overcome something traumatic, me protecting you from something dangerous; and in the end being able to stay alive to sleep with each other in bed."

"Kotaro, what are you getting at?" Wakana asks, a little quiver in her voice.

"I want to continue doing that. But not just for a few months; I want us to do that for years."

"Wait, are you,"

I interrupt quickly by locking our lips together and kissing her deeply. And after a moment of intimacy, I pull away and look down at Wakana's hands. She looks down also and finds that I have placed something in between them. Slowly opening her palms, she reveals a simple but elegant ring with a emerald diamond in the center of the sterling band.

Wakana looks down at the ring with tearing eyes and a bright smile. She finally looks up at me and a gleam of curiosity flashed in her eyes.

"I want to take you as my wife, Wakana." I exclaim as I slid the ring on her ring finger.

"Yes. Yes, yes, yes!" Wakana jumps up and down in excitement before jumping up and embracing me.

 _~Present Day~_

"And like that, Kotaro proposed to Wakana and within a month, the entire group got a wedding and banquet setup. Probably was one of the best days of Kotaro's life." I finish telling the story before looking back at the three little children on a different branch.

"Wait, so father only knew mother for a couple of months before they got married? And before they met, she was a slave?" Yuki asks me with a sorta confused look on his face.

"Yeah. And the day she was able to escape, I just happened to be in town. So, it was fate." I say as I remember what happened when I first met Wakana.

"Uncle Goemon! Can you tell us how you met Anya?!" Hotaro asks me excitedly, with her twin nodding her head.

"Yes uncle! Tell us!" Haru repeats.

I smile as I look back at them. "That is another story for another day."

"I bet it was just as good as our fathers." Yuki grins as he looks back at his twin sisters and shakes his head.

"Actually, I think my story is better." I look up at the sky and hook my fingers at my chin, making it look like I was actually thinking.

"Wait, really?!" He asks in excitement. "Can you tell us?"

"Uncle Goemon here has told you enough stories for today." Kotaro suddenly appears in front of me with his usual blank expression and crossed arms.

"Father! You're back!" Haru and Hotaro cry in unison, making him slightly smile.

"How was the trip?" I ask Kotaro.

"Tiring. Have I ever told you that I secretly dislike meetings?"

"Like 10 thousand times." I say with a sarcastic smile before all of us jump down from the tree and land on the ground.

"Mommy!" The twins run up to Wakana and embrace her tightly the second they landed the ground.

"Hey babies, how are you two?"

"They wouldn't stop complaining about my cooking." Yuki groans as he walks up to them.

I look at the little family and see all the resemblances. Yuki was already 17 and looked more like Wakana with the brown hair and green eyes. He was also as tall as us, just a few inches shorter. And Hotaro and Haru look more like Kotaro than Wakana. Both have bleached hair that was always pulled back and bright red eyes. They were able to split their albinism gene that Kotaro carried and now run around like little ghosts. They were several years younger than Yuki and just started puberty. About 13.

"You have bad cooking, Yuki!" Hotaro; the bold one, exclaims to him as she pouts.

"Hey, he's just a young man. His wife will do the cooking for him." Wakana explains with a smile, knowing that she made her son blush.

"Will you be going to Iga tomorrow?" Kotaro asks me.

"Yeah, I need to check on Anya and Resha before the mission in a few days." I explain.

"Good. I was wondering if I could come. I haven't seen your daughter since a few years back."

I nod. "Yeah, you can also maybe bring Yuki if you want."

"Why?" The albino raises an eyebrow at me. "What are your plans?"

I could only smile as I follow the little kids into the house after the talk with the Fuuma Ninja.


	20. Chapter 020 - Kitten

Kotaro, Yuki, and I walked through Iga during the crowded afternoon and made our way towards my house. It's been a few days since I have last seen Anya and Resha that I was gonna probably become mental if I don't hear their voices in the next hour. I tried to seem neutral but on the inside I was pounding and ready to go into a sprint. 16 years with Anya and I still get excited every time I see her.

Our only daughter is 15 years old and looks like a mix of the two of us. She has my unique colored eyes and is working on her fire techniques, while her hair and height and beauty come from her mother. She is my pride and joy and I would probably become like Kotaro during his mental stage if something ever happened to her.

"This place is nice." Yuki says out loud.

"Yeah. The city has developed over the years and has gotten bigger. I live on the outskirts of the city, a little more in the county." I explain to him.

"It feels weird for a country kid like me to be here. I feel so out of place." I laugh slightly to the boys words.

"Kotaro is always busy and Wakana is with the little ghost girls; you barely get out here. But I promise, it gets more exciting every time you come back." I ruffle his bobbed hair and smile.

"Dad, is it okay if I stay out here for a while? I just want to check the place out even more." Kotaro looks down at him son for a moment before nodding his head.

"But don't get lost. If you do, just go to the cafe at the end of the city. You'll see it." Yuki gives Kotaro a smile before nodding and running off.

"You knew what I was planning?" I ask in a sarcastic voice.

"I could easily tell, especially since you were smirking when he asked me."

 _~ Push Me Away ~_

Yuki sat the bank of a nearby creek and watched the water flow.

He was quite fascinated with the city, he wishes he could come back again. Maybe during a banquet. He was old enough. But Kotaro and Wakana would not allow him until he turned 19. And he's still single; who would be go with?

Suddenly interfering with his deep thoughts, his ninja instincts perked and almost silent footsteps were heard from a distance. Looking back at the forestry behind him, Yuki slowly stood up from the ground and walks towards the noise. The noises now were becoming a little more louder and a naked ear would be able to hear them. But as he was passing some large trees, the voice were from above stops. But as he looks up, a sudden scream was heard and a body fell out of nowhere.

With only a second to react, Yuki opens his arms and impressively catches the surprisingly small body. Looking at what he caught, his eyes widen when a girl a few years younger than him with brown hair and fair skin braced herself for impact from her fall.

The girl felt nothing happen to her before she opens her eyes and looks around to see that she didn't fall to the hard ground, but into someone's arms. Looking up at her savior, she blushes when the two meet eyes and stare at each other for a minute.

"Um, hey." Yuki awkwardly greets, trying to break the strange atmosphere around them.

"Hi." The girl shyly greets without looking away.

"So, should I ask how you fell out of the sky?" The girl's eyes widen in realization and awkwardly laughs.

"Ahah, um, I was trying to climb the tree, when… I… slipped…" Her voice went down to a whisper because of the embarrassment of sucking at tree climbing.

"Why were you climbing the tree?" Yuki asks in confusion.

The girl wasn't able to answer as she was interrupted by a call of a helpless kitten. The two look up to see a little Calico kitten; only a few months old, at the end of a tall branch and frozen in fear. Repeatedly calling for someone to get him.

"That's why…" She points at the kitten and Yuki couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"How did it get up there?" The girl only shook her head, also wondering that same thing.

Putting the little girl down onto the ground again, Yuki attempts to recall all his trainings with tree climbing and swiftly crawled up to the branch. Briskly walking on the thin branch, Yuki was able to get the kitten and swiftly jump down without a problem.

"Thank you!" The girl thanks as she takes her kitten and strokes him.

"So, you're from around here?"

She suddenly laughs. "Is that your pick-up line?"

"I thought her well." Goemon whispers from a far off tree with Kotaro next to him.

"This was a dangerous stunt. Especially since she got her bad tree climbing skills from her mother." Kotaro directs with a frank tone.

"Yeah, well your son did save my daughter, and now they are _very_ interested in each other." Goemon looks down at Kotaro before looking back at their two kids laughing with each other. "They grew up. And deserve each other."

"How positive are you with him being perfect with Resha?"

" _Very._ "

* * *

 _ **Author's Note**_

 _ **I finally finished this story and I have never been more relieved since I out of nowhere started Lovely Singing.**_

 _ **So, the ending was actually me winging it (Last two chapters) and I wouldn't have thought it would end like this with Goemon originally telling a story about Kotaro and Wakana.**_

 _ **Also, Resha never knew about the plan that Goemon thought of. He just put the kitten up in the tree and waited till Resha and Yuki got there and met.**_


End file.
